My second book, Linchpin, was written during NaNoWriMo 2012, and I think it is the better book of the two I’ve written so far. That first draft went through some major revisions, whole sections and ideas scrapped. But a shitty first draft, as Anne Lamott puts it, is better than no draft at all. You can’t edit something that doesn’t exist.

My first novel took over ten years to finish. Now I really do believe that it’s possible a book needs to take ten years, or twenty- five or whatever, only the writer can decide that. Books may seem static on the outside but they are living things and as the author, maybe you need to go through some stuff to finish it. That is totally legit. But what I can say for sure is that between my two experiences the second one, the 30 day draft, started off better than its predecessor and is a stronger story.

It doesn’t have to be a month. Give yourself up to six months but anything longer than that and you’re going to run into issues. The biggest of which is continuity. I know for sure I absorb everything I see and hear and after ten years that stuff is leaking out onto the page. I changed characters sex, country of origin, and most certainly their personalities. Now I had to go back and fix all of that, not so bad, but once you make one change you have to follow that ripple to the end to make sure none of the old version remains.

The other continuity issue is plot. After that long I had forgotten what I had written. Similar to the absorbing and assimilating characters to add to your own, was forgetting why I was going in a certain direction. And a person changes a lot in ten years and so had my syntax, sentence structure, vocabulary, and even style. Your narrator voice will change over a long period of time. So by the time I had a completed story is was much more of mess. I was a different person from the one who had started the story. All well and good for my inner life, bad news for my editor who had to slosh through all of that to create the consistency.

Ray Bradbury said that quantity leads to quality. Another reason why I believe that Book Two is the better book, I had had way more practice by that time. I don’t know if I’ve gotten to my 10,000 hours in yet or not, but all writing is practice. I’m a big believer in RE- writing, mostly because I don’t do outlines, but seriously, re- writing is where you get to dig deeper into this thing you’ve discovered in the first draft. Re- writing is opportunity to enrich your world and characters. Which is what also makes that lightning fast first draft so awesome. Perfection not required. Just let her rip. No holds barred, get as crazy as you want. Use the first draft to explore the characters and their space. Have things happen that you as the rational god of that world would never allow otherwise and just see what happens. You can have loose ends, dead ends, and Inception like loops, it doesn’t matter. What does matters is that the draft exists which means you can now hone into the story it really wants or needs to be.

So whether you do NaNo or not, or even make it to 50k or not, being a writer doesn’t end on Dec 1st. If you’re ever going to finish that draft there is only one way to do it and it’s best to get it done sooner rather than later.

Whatever you decide to do and however long it takes, happy writing!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but of all the new shows on TV this fall, eight of them are based of off movies and at least two others are based off of shows from other countries. People have been saying it for years, Hollywood is out of original ideas. 

As an independent author trying to get my voice heard, I know a lot of amazing writers in the same boat but no one is listening to us, because we don't have a fan base all ready to go. I realize it's an idealist's dream to wish Hollywood was more open to new ideas, they are in this for the money not the art. So their choices match their goals, but I still need to vent about this. 

It's sad to me that producers of movies or TV shows, and large publishing houses for that matter, are unwilling to take risks of any kind. As a writer looking for an agent you have to have a Twitter following and provide website traffic info as part of your submission package. I know it's a new era in the publishing industry but I have read more than one blog to break the news, just because it's good doesn't mean it will get noticed.

ASIDE: For the record, having a fan base doesn't mean it's good. Popularity is not a guarantee of quality. 

But what about Buffy, Bates Motel, or even Highlander? There are a lot, I mean A LOT of shows based off of movies (and yes, movies based off of books) and many of them are awesome, but when I know so many creative people with really awesome ideas, it's a tragedy and a travesty that the powers the be are too cowardly to explore these new worlds and ideas.

Okay, rant over. I write for me, not them, so let's move on shall we.


In case you were wondering which shows, here is the Wiki list.
See Fall TV list from EW.com here.

Hey You,

Camp NaNoWriMo has been rough. Like really rough. Never in my life have I ever had so much trouble getting a story out. By all appearances I would say I am not alone in this. I really liked my cabin, lots of encouragement offered at the start but by the middle of the second week it seems like everyone has cleared the area. Words counts started off strong and dwindled after the first ten days. All of us lowered our word count goal. And now just silence. I was the last person to post anything on the bulletin board and here is what I said:

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -Jack London

This sums up pretty much what I have been doing all month. I decided a while ago that if writing stopped being fun, then what is the point. And it has NOT been fun at all. But I am determined. I decided that no matter what I would do 30 minutes or 500 words, which ever came last. And it is a struggle every time. I am nowhere near my word count but at this point it is the principle of the matter. I am a writer and I will write, even if I am the only one who will ever read it. I will keep writing even if it’s only a few paragraphs a day until I get out of this. I will beat this story (or stories) with that club until there is nothing left but conjunctions and adverbs but I will not give up. I am a writer, hear me type!

Okay not as intimating on the page as it was in my head, and no, this blog does not count as my daily “come hell or high water” goal, thanks for asking. So there it is. The honest truth. I hope you are doing well and your summer is going a lot better than mine.

Cheers!
     -PG

Every time I feel like giving up I stumble onto something that gives me the strength to keep going. Below are a few things you need to know as an artist of any kind.

The 4 Ps – Practical, Proactive, Professional and Patient.

Practical – what is your current standard? Are you better off trying to attract a studio to a blockbuster treatment, or attract student film-makers to produce one of your short films? Do you have the craft to handle a feature film? Being practical about your position, you are better placed to take the right strategic step, which will payoff and build your career, rather than frustrate and ultimately perturb you.

Proactive – take your success into your own hands. Write as much as you can, attend networking events, enter competitions, call producers, take on internships, put together your own short films.

Professional – even if you are not yet a professional, always handle yourself in a way befitting a professional. Punctual, delivering what you’ve promised, communicative and clear.

Patient – success very rarely comes overnight. If you quit your job to write a screenplay, convinced it well sell within a few months, then you’re likely going to be in for a rude awakening. Success can take years in this industry – though smaller measures of success can occur daily, weekly and monthly. Set yourself short-term, mid-term and long-term goals – weeks, months and years – and plan for sustained growth.

This is from Lesson 23 of Industrial Scripts screenwriting course. 

And if all else fails I turn to Ray Bradbury who said:

One of my favorite things about writing has always been naming characters. First it was just about the sound of the name or the significance of the name but it quickly became about the meaning of the name. I think it's important that as you build your characters you take their names into serious consideration.

I think I have a preconceived notions about certain names and these names often get used to fill side characters as a kind of stereotyping. Like Arthur. First things that pops in my head is King Arthur. I don't think of a bear, which is what Arthur means, I think nobility and integrity. This is how I feel about many English/Welsh names.

Sometimes I discover a cool name and I want to find a person to go with it. This is the case with Esben. It's a male name that means "god." With that kind of name I needed a character who thought the world of himself. I wouldn't say Esben is conceited but he is extremely confident and sure of who he is and what he wants.

On occasion I have characters that name themselves. When this happens I think a lot about the meaning. What is my subconscious trying to tell me? I have a fantasy type character who just appeared one day and I knew that his name was Thomas, which means twin. Thomas Anderson is Neo from the Matrix. Neo is the twin of Thomas, they are two sides of the same person. I haven't found the actual twin of my Thomas which makes me think it's metaphorical. 

The only precaution regarding naming is you want to mix it up. Don't have all your characters names start with the the same letter or the reader will get confused. If all the names rhyme or end with the same sound it could get confusing too. Say the names out loud. List them together and see how they look on the page.

In this day and age it doesn't hurt to have a unique name but always Google it make sure it's not already taken by some famous book or movie you aren't familiar with. That is of course you are wanting to create an association in the readers mind, i.e. Darcy.

When in doubt workshop it or take a poll. You'll know the right name when you see it.

It started as a convenience. I needed a name and back story for a one off character. As a place holder, I borrowed from one of my favorite movies, The Money Pit. I watched this movie hundreds of times when I was kid and the minute I found it on DVD I bought it. It still makes me laugh. In the end I did not change the text as a tribute to this beloved film.

I find that as I write, words and images from my favorite movies, books, and TV shows will pop up out of nowhere. So for fun I build them into the fabric of my world. It has become a sort of game to see what I can get in there and still make it work.

So for your amusement, below are a few of the Easter eggs from Trespassing.

-Chapter 1, section 3 we get a quick background on Walter Fielding, a newly retained host. As mentioned above, The Money Pit is the source for Walter’s name, wife’s name, location and vocation.

-Top of Chapter 2. “How not to be seen” is a reference to a Monty Python sketch.

-In Chapter 3 the IT room they are in is “room 101”. (I actually use this in Linchpin too, but it’s a conference room.) Room 101 is from George Orwell’s book, 1984 and is a place of personal nightmares. By using this reference I am attempting a subconscious connection to how the characters think about this space.

-Chapter 6, section 5 I had Korben Dallas from The Fifth Element in mind when it came down to making one person question if the safety on the gun is on or off.

-End of Chapter 10 my villain borrows a line from Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back. When Vader and Boba Fett are discussing the condition of carbon freezing Han Solo. You’ll know when you read it.

 -Chapter 12, Lysandra is trapped inside a mini-theater. This setting was inspired by a recent visit to Castro Theater here in San Francisco.

The amazing thing about this, is that the theater is in her own head. Not two days after I wrote the scene I was reading a book about human consciousness and was introduced to the concept of the Cartesian Theater. Check it out, it’s a trip.

-At the end of Chapter 16 I let Lysanda quote Princess Leia from Return of Jedi.


I have a few others, mostly names of people I know. There may be others moments and dialogue too, but if you read something that seems familiar it just might be for a reason.

In the same vein, there are five names on the DPA website that I used to pay homage to some of my favorite things. If you figure them all out, let me know and no Googling them! All the answers must come from your amazing brain alone.

Book Two will be released on March 27th on all ebook platforms. While  written to be read as a stand-alone book, Linchpin is a continuation of characters from Trespassing. Just in case you still don't have Trespassing it will be free on Kindle March 27th-29th.

The print version of Linchpin will be release mid-April.

I didn't really have anyone in mind for Draegg until Almost Human came out. Michael Ealy's portrayal on that show of Dorian's quiet dignity and unflappable temperament reminds me of Draegg. Eriksson's and Draegg's relationship is similar to Detective Kennex and Dorian's but it plays out differently. Not to mention it would be a great excuse to get these two together again. Of course, Mr. Ealy is much younger than Draegg so they will have age him for part. They had the best partner chemistry I have seen in a long time and losing Almost Human is another travesty to added to the ongoing list of Fox's poor decision making, but I digress.

Next Time: Lysandra and Matt

With my second book wrapped up (for now) I was going through my files looking for inspiration for NaNoWriMo. I found a page of writing exercises that I did from the perspective from several characters. It’s dated January 2007, while I was working on Trespassing. The exercise was to describe your ideal place. 

There’s a scene in Trespassing where Lysandra goes to a dance club that may have been inspired by this but I really don’t know if this is true for her anymore. The other two I find really interesting. These were written a year before the new book,Linchpin, was a formed idea in my head but the book does get the chance to explore both Eriksson's and Esben’s ideal place. 

March 2015. Not much longer now.